The rock beast brought its gigantic rock fist down towards the heroes as they scattered.
Magus rolled backwards and leaped into the air, holding out his hand he casted lightning 2...the lightning simply raced along the beasts body and into the ground.
Crono flipped to the side and landed on his right leg, pushing off of it he thrusted the Rainbow into the beast's side. The beast turned and brought its rocky fist across Crono's face, sending him flying backwards violently crashing into the ground and rolling a few times.
Glenn turned and threw out his hand, casting water two as a wave of water poured over the rock beast..its solidity affected slightly it growled and threw out its own arm, tossing several large boulders towards glenn, he jumped up onto the first one and side flipped off that boulder to land on one knee...seeing Crono he mumbled a few incantations and held out his hands as a soft aura covered crono...healing his wounds.
Ayla growled and triple kicked at the monsters chest, rocks coming off of it. Then ayla backflipped and attempted to throw it using her rock throw technique...but she failed.
"Ayla not strong enough!" She said with amazement.
"That's it!" Lucca said with a tinge of excitement.
She turned to marle and glenn.
"Quickly! Use your ice water attack!" She shouted.
They both nodded as they closed their eyes...a bubble of water appearing before them as small slivers of ice filled it up, it floated above the beasts head and then drenched it with water followed by a sharp rain of ice-daggers.
The beast growled and slowly began to melt...then suddenly began to solidify again.
"Oh no!" Lucca exclaimed in panic.
"Quick! Glenn...Crono! CRONO!" She cried.
Crono was barely getting up.
"Come on Crono! Do your Swordstream tech!" She commanded.
Crono looked up and nodded weakly.
Glenn summoned a bubble of water again as Crono leapt high into the air and brought his sword down...popping the bubble as water poured down the monster and his sword was able to tear through the seemingly unbreakable rock armor.
The rock beast screeched sending Crono flipping backwards and skidding to a stop on one knee. The rocks were falling off of it now...its body turning to mud...Marle and Glenn continued to pummel it with water/ice tactics until nothing was left but a mud-covered Sherkal.
"D...darn..." She coughed.
The seven warriors walked up to her and surrounded her.
"We've been sent by Gaspar to receive your blessing caller of earth...please grant us your earth magic." Crono asked softly.
Sherkal stood shakily and nodded...holding out her hands a great circular dome of rock surrounded the 8 of them, sherkal and the seven heroes.
"Close your eyes..." Sherkal mumbled as the heroes did so.
"Grenthor wiknoth werkith orpan quertis nompes sharko Grenthor!" she chanted as the earth suddenly collapsed and began rotating around all of the heroes...small rocks and pebbles surrounded the heroes and spun around them wildly.
Ayla's was different, the ground under her had risen a good three feet.
"We have found the Earth elemental...you have all been granted with earth spells, but hers shall be different from all of yours." Sherkal announced.
The others all nodded as they looked to Ayla.
"One down..." Crono said.
"Seven more to go."
"I see now why Gaspar chose the seven of you...indeed you are unique among all the periods of time..." Sherkal muttered in disgrace as she stood slowly.
"We have some questions for you Sherkal..." Crono said in a determined tone.
"Why sherkal give Azala magic?! Sherkal know Azala kill humans!" Ayla shouted in rage.
"No no no! It wasn't like that at all! I was looking for someone to bless with my powers. Holding the weight of all the earth magic in existance of the flow of time is a heavy burden indeed. I simply wanted to find a righteous individual to bless the power upon...Azala manipulated me and in return for building me this castle I granted him power of Earth."
Lucca thought for a minute.
"Hold on, how long have you existed in this dimension?"
Sherkal sighed and shook her head.
"I don't know for sure...all I remember is Zeal wanting to meet us in the main chambers...and the next thing I knew portals opened everywhere and all my comrades...Wendell the master of lightning, Prenthis the master of ice, Narkon the master of water, Quentor the master of fire, Anshal the master of space, Rendroth the master of shadow and Jarl the master of time."
Glenn sighed.
"And you have no idea where the others went?" Glenn asked.
Sherkal shook her head sorrowfully.
"Well at least now that Ayla has taken care of Azala we can continue with our journey...right Ayla?" Marle looked over to Ayla with a grin but was shocked to see Ayla actually on the brink of tears.
"Ayla no defeat Azala. Ayla too weak...Azala too powerful!" Ayla cried in shame.
Marle's grin faded, she knew how much honor Ayla had and how losing a battle, ever, could mean the end for her.
Walking over slowly Marle embraced Ayla gently.
"It's ok Ayla...we'll take care of it together." Marle said softly.
Ayla sniffled and nodded gently.
"Right...Crono help Ayla..." As she looked over to Crono hopefully.
Crono nodded and smiled.
At the same time Sherkal turned and began to walk away.
"Where are you going woman?!" Magus declared with a scowl.
"There is nothing left for me here...I shall go and hide away in the mountains...never to be disturbed again."
"But...!" Lucca exclaimed suddenly, but was stopped by Crono's hand gently holding her shoulder.
Lucca looked back as Crono shook his head.
"Its not our decision to make Lucca...let her go."
Lucca looked back to the woman shrouded in cloak and dropped her head as she dissappeared into the horizon.
*
Matzu sat in his realm silently...having just returned from another fruitless trip into the flow of time... he closed his eyes and thought back to that time long past…known as 12000 BC…the time of Zeal.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gaspar, Melchior and Balthasar all sat next to Matzu at a table sitting across from Queen Zeal and her son, Janus and daughter, Schala.
"Janus…don't play with Alfred at the dinner table." Zeal scolded with a smile.
"Yes mother…" the young boy said as he shooed the young cat away.
"I'll play with you later Alfred…" he said in a sullen tone.
Schala smiled as she cut a piece of her steak…the steam still coming off of it as she bit into it, the juice flowing out from the tender meat and onto her plate, she smiled as if the juice was tickling her taste buds.
"This is excellent mother, we should have the cooks make this meal more often." Schala suggested with another bite.
The Gurus all smiled as they were enjoying their meals as well.
"So tell me Melchior…how does my kingdom fare this night?" Zeal asked biting into her broccoli.
"Well m'lady…" he said with a smile.
"Your people are all very satisfied with your excellent leadership, and even your mercy for the earthbound ones. The kingdom is doing excellently." Melchior concluded as he sipped from his silver chalice.
The doors to the dining room suddenly swung open.
"Queen Zeal! We've discovered something!" A royal guard shouted.
"Excuse me…" Zeal apologized as she stood and walked calmly toward the guard.
"Follow me m'lady…" he said as he walked down the hall leading her to the transportation room.
*
"Hmmm, I wonder what that was all about…?" Balthasar asked quietly.
"Well, she has been awfully occupied recently with that "Legend" of a fallen creature from heaven." Gaspar answered.
Matzu shook his head.
"I think they found the 'Legend'…" Matzu said picking up a piece of warm bread and biting into it.
The three other gurus looked to him in awe.
"What do you mean they found the 'legend'?" Melchior asked.
"That horrible power that they uncovered today…it will spell disaster for all of us…the queen has opened Pandora's box…god help us…" Matzu got up abruptly and walked out the door…obviously livid.
Janus held Schala gently.
"Gaspar…what's wrong with Matzu?" Schala asked.
"Don't worry honey, I'm sure he's just mad because he didn't find it first." He said with a smile and a wink.
Schala smiled, but she wasn't completely reassured, because she also was feeling like something was wrong…something deep and troubling in her gut that she just couldn't shake.
"This is incredible!" Zeal said with delight upon witnessing the creature.
The 8 callers stood behind Zeal in a row…
Sherkal, Wendell, Prenthis, Narkon, Quentor, Anshal, Rendoth and Jarl.
These eight were elite magicians who had been trained since they could stand to manipulate the many elements of the world.
~These magicians are Zeal's main offense and defense when it comes to attacks from creatures not of the enlightened ones or even below those wretched earth dwellers.
Now that I have this however…that will all change.~
"We are trying to research its energy source and where it came up with all this power…once we isolate its core energy source we should be able to tap into it and grant Zeal the greatest powers in the galaxy." One of her scientists said.
Zeal didn't care about her kingdom anymore…the darkness that was Lavos soon consumed her heart and soul…leaving nothing but a shell of a once warm, caring leader and leaving behind a heartless, cold blooded creature ready to slaughter and elminate all who would stand in her way…
Matzu headed back to his chambers and closed the door behind him with a wave of his hand…sitting down on his bed he went over all the possibilities and outcomes for the kingdom of Zeal.
~The queen is a great public figure, but she's of weak character…she's easily corrupted. Such power as Lavos will corrupt her entirely…nothing will be left of the old Zeal to hold on to…~ Matzu cursed himself as he stood suddenly.
"I have to stop her…" he told himself as he walked out the door slowly.
*
After witnessing the great power of Lavos the eight callers were walking down a hallway in the palace, discussing the evil they had witnessed. Each of them wore a brightly colored robe in association with their element…
Sherkal wore a long, light brown cloak. Wendell wore a long white robe. Prenthis wore a long dark blue robe and Narkon wore a long light blue robe. Quentor wore a red robe and Anshal wore a black one. Finally, Jarl wore a gray cloak that dragged behind him gently.
"Surely the queen isn't going to try and harness that!" Rendroth declared angrily.
"It seems that the queen wishes for unlimited power…" Jarl commented dryly.
Sherkal looked over her brethren and stopped for a moment.
"Now hold on a minute, we're talking about Queen Zeal here…the leader of this world…why would she want to endanger her people over this new creature?"
The others simply chuckled…she was after all, the only female of the eight, and they never seemed to take her seriously…how she resented that is beyond verbal description.
"If you were offered the greatest power in the galaxy dear Sherkal, I don't think even you would turn it down…" Prenthis said softly.
Sherkal huffed impatiently and caught up with them walking swiftly with a touch of impatience.
"No need for a temper Sherkal, it just makes sense is all, even the Gurus think so." Quentor said with a smug look on his face.
Lowering his voice into a whisper Anshal quietly said
"I heard Matzu isn't talking to the queen anymore because of what she did."
The other seven gasped quietly.
"Matzu?" Sherkal asked in awe, she had heard of this incredible Wiseman but she never had met with him face to face, it was rumored he had studied all the elements enough so that he proved to be a very powerful wizard and the queen's wisest, most respected confidant.
Just then a dark figure leaning against a pillar took up and ran back to the queen's room…his mission had been accomplished.
*
"Those dirty mongrels were lying to me! I knew it! Those fools will pay for their insolence!" Zeal screamed in rage.
"Bring them to me!" she shouted as she waved her hand in the direction of her guards.
They nodded quickly and retreated quickly.
*
Matzu paced quickly down the hall and noticed a wave of elite Zeal guards surrounding the Callers.
~What's going on?!~ he thought as he watched the elite guards use all their magic to restrain the callers and teleport out of the room.
~darn!~ Matzu thought as he ran towards the chamber where Lavos was being kept…he had a feeling that they were heading there.
The Eight had no idea what to do…before they could do anything they were before Zeal and her monstrous new pet Lavos.
"Hello my little traitors…"
"Traitors?!" Jarl growled.
"Yes…" she said with a scowl. "…traitors."
"I demand to know what's going on right now Zeal!" Wendell yelled, his body beginning to teem with electricity.
"I wouldn't recommend any rash actions…" said softly motioning towards her elite, their staffs held ready towards the callers.
"I'm afraid I can't have you traitors dirtying my perfect kingdom…" Zeal's smile became a menacing grimace that would've sent chills down the fiercest demons' spines.
She gave the orders and the portals opened, and the callers disappeared into nothingness.
Matzu ran into the room a little too late...the callers already were being sucked into the vortexes of time and being dragged into realms unknown.
"ZEAL!" He screamed as he ran in unsheathing his blade.
"You fool! How dare you enter my chambers without my permission!" she screamed in rage as she motioned to her elite to handle the problem.
Matzu held out his hand as one of the elite was frozen solid and he spun, slashing at it as it shattered into thousands of pieces. With a quick movement he threw a dagger at another's head as it dug in deep into the elite's skull and he fell to the floor, a pool of blood forming underneath him.
Matzu growled, all the suppressed anger and fury under Zeal coming loose, like a hellish power set free.
With a wave of his hand an incredible explosion incinerated the remaining elite as he walked towards Zeal and Lavos slowly.
"You....you filthy mongrel! You destroyed my elite corps!" Zeal cried in shock.
"That's right you darn B***h...and now it's your turn..." he said coldly as he pointed his sword at her.
Zeal began to laugh.
"Fool...you compare the skills of my elite corps to myself? The power you're facing is unlike any you can possibly fathom... and with lavos to help focus my energy...I can dispose of vermin like you in a blink!"
Lavos opened its mouth slowly as an energy began to form and Zeal began to mumble...a portal opening up above Matzu and Lavos loosing a beam of energy at the same time, the two energies creating a separate realm for Matzu...an infinite prison for him to dwell in through the flow of time.
Matzu let out a scream as he was pulled into the vortex...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And then he woke up...
"Dammit...I need to find that caller of Space...where the hell could he be?" Matzu cursed himself for not paying attention to every second of time as it passed beneath him.
Matzu took a deep breath.
"No need to stress out...I'll find him and then I'll make my way past the end of time, and gain the immortality I deserve!"
Matzu laughed long and hard as the shadows covered him and he dissappeared into his realm again
Crono turned to the rest of the warriors.
"Alright...we passed the first Callers test...now we need to go back to Gaspar's and find out the next Caller's location..."
Glenn, Ayla, Magus, Lucca, Marle and Robo all nodded, until Ayla brought something up.
"But what about Azala?" she cried desperately.
Crono slapped his forehead.
~I can't believe I forgot about that!~ he thought to himself.
Magus chuckled.
"I can't believe you forgot about that Crono..." he said with a sneer.
Crono gave him a look of disbelief...ready to comment, but didn't have the energy to start a fight with Magus.
"Right...we'll take care of Azala first...then we'll head back to Gaspar..."
Robo spoke up quickly.
"Crono, wouldn't it be wiser if you went on with a couple of us while the rest of us went on back to Gaspar's and continued with the mission?"
Crono smiled.
"That's a great idea robo! Very well...I'll take..."
"Crono no leave without Ayla!" Ayla cried as she ran up to him.
Crono chuckled.
"Very well...I'll take Ayla and.....Marle." Crono said with a smile.
"Figures..." Magus snarled.
Marle giggled and walked over to Crono turning to the four remaining warriors.
"You guys head back to the end of time and Gaspar and go on to the next caller...we'll follow after you when we're done here."
The four other heroes, Robo, Glenn, Lucca and Magus all nodded silently as Glenn walked up to Marle and took her hand gently.
"Be Careful m'lady..." he said...his eyes growing soft with worry.
Marle giggled.
"Don't worry Glenn...I'll be fine..." she said as she sent him off to follow the others, hearing magus call from ahead...
"I have the front seat!"
Marle turned to Crono.
"Are you guys ready?" he asked.
Ayla nodded excitedly.
"Ayla ready! We make Azala have big hurt! Right Crono?"
Crono chuckled.
"Yes Ayla...we'll make Azala have a big hurt..."
Marle's face became quite serious as she looked towards Azala's tower, which loomed over them like a bad dream she loaded her crossbow.
Crono got his Rainbow Sword ready as Ayla growled low in her throat.
"Let's go..." Crono said as they charged towards the tower.
*
Lucca piloted the Epoch as Magus sat next to her...Glenn sitting in robo's lap in the back seat.
"Hmmpf...next time have Magus sit in Robo's lap..." Glenn whined.
"Oh stop it you big baby...or else I'll cast a black hole on you both..." Magus scowled.
Glenn growled.
"Why you...!" as he struggled to attack Magus.
"WOULD BOTH OF YOU PLEASE STOP?!" Lucca yelled.
The cabin fell into an eery silence.
"Sorry Lucca..." Glenn muttered, ashamed.
Magus didn't say sorry, but he wasn't feeling like the best guy in the world either.
Finally they arrived at the end of time, leaping out of the epoch Lucca ran up to Gaspar.
"We got Sherkal's blessing Gaspar!" she said breathlessly.
The old man's eyes shone with a tinge of pride.
"That's great news young one..." Gaspar looked around at the Magus, Robo, Glenn and Lucca.
"Where are Crono and the others?"
Lucca sighed.
"They have some business to attend to back in Ayla's time...and we've been sent to continue onward...so do you have any more locations on the Callers?"
Gaspar smiled.
"Yes..I've located four more...Wendell, the master of lightning, is in the year 1995 AD. Prenthis, the master of Ice...is located in 5000 BC, Narkon, the master of water, is in
500 AD...and is in the underground city of Atlantica...but I think the epoch can handle that. Finally Quentor, the master of fire, is in 1980."
Lucca smiled.
"Thanks Gaspar! Now...to decide which one to go to..."
Lucca stood there for a moment, pondering which course they should take, when Glenn stepped up gently behind her.
"M'lady...I believe that if we went to Wendell that would be the best course of action..."
Lucca turned to Glenn.
"Why would you say that Glenn?" She asked with a tinge of interest.
"Well, seeing as how he is one who wields lightning, perhaps my water magic will be more effective against him..."
Suddenly Glenn heard Magus chuckle from behind him.
"Your puny bubbles wouldn't do much damage against any kind of enemy, only my shadow magicks are of real use in combat..."
Glenn turned and scowled at Magus.
"These spells of mine did enough to help take you down in combat...or would you rather I slay you with the Masamune?"
Magus growled back to him in return when suddenly Gaspar snorted and looked to the two arguing heroes.
"That's enough you two...get going to 1995 AD...that's just four years before Lavos is supposed to attack..."
Robo smiled, well as much as a robot could.
"Finally! I'll be able to see my masters again! What fun!" Robo ran towards the epoch.
"I call front seat!" He shouted.
Magus and Glenn looked to each other with dread.
~This is going to be a looooong flight...~ Glenn thought as he marched slowly towards the Epoch.
*
Ayla, Crono and Marle looked over Azala's rebuilt castle.
"It still looks as splendid as before..." Crono said quietly.
"Ayla no care! Ayla make Azala pay for shame he cause...!"
Marle giggled and gave an encouraging thumbs up.
"That's right, he won't know what hit him!"
Crono walked towards the door slowly, lifting his Rainbow sword over his head he leapt into the air, bringing the sword down hard, executing his "Spincut" technique, the door fell inward in two pieces...and reptites came out in the dozens.
Ayla screamed in rage and leapt forward, performing a triple kick she knocked a good six reptites out of the game as Crono leapt into the air.
"Marle! Now! Ice Sword 2!" he yelled.
Marle nodded as she closed her eyes...murmuring gently she sent a blue light to encompass Crono's blade as he struck true upon ihs enemy...a block of ice forming around the enemy as he began to run around it, slicing it up and down, side to side until the ice exploded with great force, sending sharp shards of it towards the enemies in all directions, getting rid of many more of them.
Ayla backflipped off of her last kick and landed on one knee, standing she turned and slammed a reptite in the face with her right fist.
Suddenly, she felt her powers growing inside of her. She closed her eyes...her world lost all light, now there was only sound, her body teemed with the newly given powers of earth as her world filled with action, and yet simplicity. She was filled with waves of sluggish energies that were not heard, but felt as she opened her eyes again, reborn with a new sense of determination and trust in her own powers.
"Ayla show you a new trick!" She yelled as she stared down the dozens of reptites. Surely they hadfeared this hairless ape before but this new look of hers took it to a level beyond their comprehension.
"TERRA SMASHER!!" She screamed as she launched herself into the air and came back down, fist first, into the ground sending a wave of razor sharp daggers of earth towards the remaining reptites.
Many of them tried to run, but it was no use, for the daggers of earth tore through their skin nonetheless.
Ayla stood, amazed at her new powers as Crono and Marle looked to each other.
Crono looked back to Ayla.
"Ayla...are you ok?" Crono asked quietly.
Ayla smiled and turned.
"Ayla more than ok...Ayla better than ever!" Ayla then turned and ran towards the stairs...where more dangers awaited them.
Suddenly she saw three staircases...one on the left, right and middle.
"Crono? Which should we take?
Crono looked back to Marle
"Which way should we go Marle?"
Marle stepped forward and looked to each stairway...first the right one, then the center one, and then finally the left one. She smiled lightly.
"Let's head left..."
Crono smiled and nodded and motioned for Ayla to lead the way.
Ayla ran up the stairs quickly and headed towards the door, coming to a screeching halt when she saw someone she thought she'd never see again.
*
Glenn sat uncomfortably in Magus' lap and shifted slightly.
Magus snarled and looked to him.
"Would you please sit still?" Magus asked with a growl.
Glenn turned back to him with a scowl and then leaned forward slightly to talk to Lucca.
"How much longer?" he asked desperately.
"About 20 more minutes...just relax back there ok?"
Magus straightened up slightly, causing Glenn to tip over and hit his head on the back of Lucca's seat. Glenn turned to punch Magus in the face but Magus caught his fist as they stared each other down.
"Filthy amphibian..." Magus snarled.
"THAT'S ENOUGH FROM THE BOTH OF YOU!" Lucca screamed as the two fell silent and looked away from each other like school children.
*
"NIZBEL?!" Ayla asked in amazement.
Nizbel stood before them, flexing his massive muscles the well-built reptite snarled at the three of them.
"Azala told me you would be coming, I was hoping that he was kidding around...but I guess he wasn't. Don't worry though, I'm not letting you get out of here alive...especially since I've learned some new tricks..."
Nizbel smiled and ran to Crono first, throwing out his massive fist he caught Crono on his left cheek and sent him flying into the wall next to him with a loud *thud*. Marle grimaced and fired a few arrows from her crossbow at Nizbel, one of them piercing his chest as he growled and reached for the Arrow, pulling it out quickly.
"You filthy ape..." he growled as he leapt into the air and came down hard, sending a wave of earth towards Marle, sending her off balance and causing her to fall back and hit her head on the wall.
Ayla looked to her friends and then back to Nizbel, her eyes filled with a fiery rage as she flexed her muscles and leapt towards Nizblel with lightining speed...pushing off of one leg she rocketed towards Nizbel and executed her triple kick technique...hitting him in the chest, the left cheek and finally pushing off the second kick into a backflip she kicked him as hard as she could on his right cheek, sending him spinning and falling to the ground...hard.
Backflipping off of her final kick she landed on one knee.
Standing slowly she looked to Nizbel, who was sprawled across the floor.
"That too easy..." Ayla smiled confidently.
Suddenly nizbel chuckled and got up slowly...tilting his neck left cracking a few bones, then right...smiling at Ayla.
"Round two..."
Nizbel ran towards her and threw a punch at her stomach, Ayla rolled out of the way and pivoted, pushing off her back foot to fuel the strong punch she sent straight for Nizbel's head.
Nizbel held out his hand and caught Ayla's hand, spinning her around rapidly he sent her flying towards the rugged rock wall in front of them.
Ayla saw the wall approaching fast and knew that if she didn't do something drastic the fight would be over before it even started...she closed her eyes and searched her mind for more of her recently unlocked power, and smiled as she found what she was looking for.
"Terra shield!" She yelled quickly before hitting the wall, and instead of splattering against it with a series of cracks and snaps as Nizbel expected she hit the wall and instantly backflipped off of it onto one knee and stood...facing Nizbel.
"Round Three..." Ayla said with a grin.
*
"We're here!" Lucca shouted as they all leapt out of the Epoch, gazing in wonder at this Brave New World.
A huge dome encompassed the large buildings and peoples of these cities and cars hovered over 12 inches off the ground.
"What magic is this? That they float over the ground with their strange vehicles..." Magus said with a snarl.
Lucca looked to Magus and smiled.
"What would you call the Epoch then?"
Magus scoffed and looked around.
Glenn turned to Lucca.
"Where are we to find this Wendell character?"
Lucca smiled.
"I did a little research on the trip over...he has to be in one of the following three places:
1) Miranda Computer Labs
2) Shintoki Forensic Labs
3) Nerthtok Weather Labs
Where should we head first guys?"
"Let's head over to Shintoki Forensic Labs guys...we should find somethiing interesting there at least..."
the others nodded silently as they followed Lucca down the street towards a huge building, it was like a huge black monolith in the middle of the beautiful city...the sun reflecting off of its tinted windows as the four headed towards the main entrance...not knowing what to expect...
*
Ayla leapt at Nizbel and saw that Crono had awoken, shaking his head slightly as she planted a hard kick to the side of Nizbel's head.
"Crono! Help Ayla with Nizbel!"
Crono nodded, he knew exactly what to do as he closed his eyes and murmured, a light aura surrounding him as he held out his hands.
"VOLT BITE!" (Crono/Ayla:Lightning/Single Target he screamed as a blast of lightning came from the sky and filled Ayla's body with electric energies as she leapt at Nizbel and ravaged him with fierce bites and attacks, leaving him weakened from the lightning, poised for a beautiful finish, and of course, Ayla would like nothing better.
She closed her eyes, searching for the perfect technique to do so...and was thrilled with the result she got as she smiled and opened her eyes.
"Crono...Ayla have new trick...you help me...yes?"
Crono smiled and nodded.
"What do you want me to do?"
Ayla smirked.
"Big lightning storm...make lightning everywhere...Ayla take it from there..."
Crono nodded, kind of interested in what she was about to do.
He murmured a few words and threw his hands up into the air, Auras surrounding himself and Ayla as the lightning came from above, striking all around, and on Nizbel as Ayla chuckled and leapt into the air.
"Chaotic Fist!" Ayla shouted as she drove her fist into the ground as she came down and underneath Nizbel appeared the form of Ayla's hand, only completely made of rock, the lightning went into the hand and completely surrounded Nizbel before the Rock-hand closed with a series of sickening cracks and snaps, the sound of Nizbel's bones breaking as a blood curdling scream echoed through the room and blood ran freely down the rocks and onto the floor in a large pool.
Crono ran over to Marle and gently lifted her off the ground.
"Marle? Marle are you ok?"
Crono began to shake her gently...blood ran from her mouth lightly...she had bitten her lip pretty badly, and had some pretty severe bruises.
"Marle? Marle!"
Suddenly Marle flinched...and looked to Crono.
"What do you want you big oaf? I'm in pain ya know..." She smiled weakly at Crono.
Crono smiled back, his eyes were beginning to tear up...
"Then heal yourself, your majesty..." he chuckled lightly.
Marle closed her eyes, a light aura surrounding her as her bruises healed over and her cut closing up...the blood still on her lip.
Marle got up slowly.
"Well...that was fun...I better be on my guard next time..."
Ayla snarled and turned towards the door that led to the final plateau of the castle.
"If we take Center stair first, we no need to fight Nizbel..."
Ayla looked to Marle for a moment, and for the first time, bore a look of dissappointment and dare she say...anger?
Ayla ran ahead towards where Azala was waiting no doubt, Marle and Crono following unsurely afterwards.
*
Slowly the four awkward heroes entered the building, instantly drawing all the attention in the room towards them.
"What are these fools staring at?" Magus muttered impatiently.
~How I would love to suck these pitiful fools into a black hole...~
Lucca maintained herself and walked up to the main desk.
"Excuse me...do you know if there is a Wendell here?"
The receptionist took a minute to get over the other odd looking fellows.
"Um..let me see..."
The receptionist looked through the computer.
"Ah...here it is...I can't believe I forgot...He's the vice president of this company..."
Lucca frowned slightly.
"Could you arrange for him to meet with us?"
The receptionist gave Lucca an odd look.
"You must be new...it takes anywhere from 3 to 4 weeks to actually get on Wendell's schedule...the actual meeting won't take place for a couple months..."
Magus snarled and walked up to the desk and slammed his gloved hands onto the desk.
"Listen you pathetic worm...we will see this wendell character...whether you like it or not...so either you show us the way, or we fight our way up...understand?"
The receptionist shuddered, the figure's deep gazing eyes paralyzing her with fear, she was finally able to nod slightly.
"Good...now show us where he is..."
The receptionist stuttered
"T..t...th...th...the 56th...f..f..f..floor..."
Lucca looked around.
"And how exactly do we get to the 56th f..f..f...floor?" Magus asked with a sneer.
"The elevator..." the Receptionist said slowly...pointing behind her.
The four looked to this strange contraption and headed towards it...the receptionist getting on the phone.
"Tell Mr. Wendell there are some crazy freaks on their way up! Tell him now!
Magus rolled backwards and leaped into the air, holding out his hand he casted lightning 2...the lightning simply raced along the beasts body and into the ground.
Crono flipped to the side and landed on his right leg, pushing off of it he thrusted the Rainbow into the beast's side. The beast turned and brought its rocky fist across Crono's face, sending him flying backwards violently crashing into the ground and rolling a few times.
Glenn turned and threw out his hand, casting water two as a wave of water poured over the rock beast..its solidity affected slightly it growled and threw out its own arm, tossing several large boulders towards glenn, he jumped up onto the first one and side flipped off that boulder to land on one knee...seeing Crono he mumbled a few incantations and held out his hands as a soft aura covered crono...healing his wounds.
Ayla growled and triple kicked at the monsters chest, rocks coming off of it. Then ayla backflipped and attempted to throw it using her rock throw technique...but she failed.
"Ayla not strong enough!" She said with amazement.
"That's it!" Lucca said with a tinge of excitement.
She turned to marle and glenn.
"Quickly! Use your ice water attack!" She shouted.
They both nodded as they closed their eyes...a bubble of water appearing before them as small slivers of ice filled it up, it floated above the beasts head and then drenched it with water followed by a sharp rain of ice-daggers.
The beast growled and slowly began to melt...then suddenly began to solidify again.
"Oh no!" Lucca exclaimed in panic.
"Quick! Glenn...Crono! CRONO!" She cried.
Crono was barely getting up.
"Come on Crono! Do your Swordstream tech!" She commanded.
Crono looked up and nodded weakly.
Glenn summoned a bubble of water again as Crono leapt high into the air and brought his sword down...popping the bubble as water poured down the monster and his sword was able to tear through the seemingly unbreakable rock armor.
The rock beast screeched sending Crono flipping backwards and skidding to a stop on one knee. The rocks were falling off of it now...its body turning to mud...Marle and Glenn continued to pummel it with water/ice tactics until nothing was left but a mud-covered Sherkal.
"D...darn..." She coughed.
The seven warriors walked up to her and surrounded her.
"We've been sent by Gaspar to receive your blessing caller of earth...please grant us your earth magic." Crono asked softly.
Sherkal stood shakily and nodded...holding out her hands a great circular dome of rock surrounded the 8 of them, sherkal and the seven heroes.
"Close your eyes..." Sherkal mumbled as the heroes did so.
"Grenthor wiknoth werkith orpan quertis nompes sharko Grenthor!" she chanted as the earth suddenly collapsed and began rotating around all of the heroes...small rocks and pebbles surrounded the heroes and spun around them wildly.
Ayla's was different, the ground under her had risen a good three feet.
"We have found the Earth elemental...you have all been granted with earth spells, but hers shall be different from all of yours." Sherkal announced.
The others all nodded as they looked to Ayla.
"One down..." Crono said.
"Seven more to go."
"I see now why Gaspar chose the seven of you...indeed you are unique among all the periods of time..." Sherkal muttered in disgrace as she stood slowly.
"We have some questions for you Sherkal..." Crono said in a determined tone.
"Why sherkal give Azala magic?! Sherkal know Azala kill humans!" Ayla shouted in rage.
"No no no! It wasn't like that at all! I was looking for someone to bless with my powers. Holding the weight of all the earth magic in existance of the flow of time is a heavy burden indeed. I simply wanted to find a righteous individual to bless the power upon...Azala manipulated me and in return for building me this castle I granted him power of Earth."
Lucca thought for a minute.
"Hold on, how long have you existed in this dimension?"
Sherkal sighed and shook her head.
"I don't know for sure...all I remember is Zeal wanting to meet us in the main chambers...and the next thing I knew portals opened everywhere and all my comrades...Wendell the master of lightning, Prenthis the master of ice, Narkon the master of water, Quentor the master of fire, Anshal the master of space, Rendroth the master of shadow and Jarl the master of time."
Glenn sighed.
"And you have no idea where the others went?" Glenn asked.
Sherkal shook her head sorrowfully.
"Well at least now that Ayla has taken care of Azala we can continue with our journey...right Ayla?" Marle looked over to Ayla with a grin but was shocked to see Ayla actually on the brink of tears.
"Ayla no defeat Azala. Ayla too weak...Azala too powerful!" Ayla cried in shame.
Marle's grin faded, she knew how much honor Ayla had and how losing a battle, ever, could mean the end for her.
Walking over slowly Marle embraced Ayla gently.
"It's ok Ayla...we'll take care of it together." Marle said softly.
Ayla sniffled and nodded gently.
"Right...Crono help Ayla..." As she looked over to Crono hopefully.
Crono nodded and smiled.
At the same time Sherkal turned and began to walk away.
"Where are you going woman?!" Magus declared with a scowl.
"There is nothing left for me here...I shall go and hide away in the mountains...never to be disturbed again."
"But...!" Lucca exclaimed suddenly, but was stopped by Crono's hand gently holding her shoulder.
Lucca looked back as Crono shook his head.
"Its not our decision to make Lucca...let her go."
Lucca looked back to the woman shrouded in cloak and dropped her head as she dissappeared into the horizon.
*
Matzu sat in his realm silently...having just returned from another fruitless trip into the flow of time... he closed his eyes and thought back to that time long past…known as 12000 BC…the time of Zeal.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gaspar, Melchior and Balthasar all sat next to Matzu at a table sitting across from Queen Zeal and her son, Janus and daughter, Schala.
"Janus…don't play with Alfred at the dinner table." Zeal scolded with a smile.
"Yes mother…" the young boy said as he shooed the young cat away.
"I'll play with you later Alfred…" he said in a sullen tone.
Schala smiled as she cut a piece of her steak…the steam still coming off of it as she bit into it, the juice flowing out from the tender meat and onto her plate, she smiled as if the juice was tickling her taste buds.
"This is excellent mother, we should have the cooks make this meal more often." Schala suggested with another bite.
The Gurus all smiled as they were enjoying their meals as well.
"So tell me Melchior…how does my kingdom fare this night?" Zeal asked biting into her broccoli.
"Well m'lady…" he said with a smile.
"Your people are all very satisfied with your excellent leadership, and even your mercy for the earthbound ones. The kingdom is doing excellently." Melchior concluded as he sipped from his silver chalice.
The doors to the dining room suddenly swung open.
"Queen Zeal! We've discovered something!" A royal guard shouted.
"Excuse me…" Zeal apologized as she stood and walked calmly toward the guard.
"Follow me m'lady…" he said as he walked down the hall leading her to the transportation room.
*
"Hmmm, I wonder what that was all about…?" Balthasar asked quietly.
"Well, she has been awfully occupied recently with that "Legend" of a fallen creature from heaven." Gaspar answered.
Matzu shook his head.
"I think they found the 'Legend'…" Matzu said picking up a piece of warm bread and biting into it.
The three other gurus looked to him in awe.
"What do you mean they found the 'legend'?" Melchior asked.
"That horrible power that they uncovered today…it will spell disaster for all of us…the queen has opened Pandora's box…god help us…" Matzu got up abruptly and walked out the door…obviously livid.
Janus held Schala gently.
"Gaspar…what's wrong with Matzu?" Schala asked.
"Don't worry honey, I'm sure he's just mad because he didn't find it first." He said with a smile and a wink.
Schala smiled, but she wasn't completely reassured, because she also was feeling like something was wrong…something deep and troubling in her gut that she just couldn't shake.
"This is incredible!" Zeal said with delight upon witnessing the creature.
The 8 callers stood behind Zeal in a row…
Sherkal, Wendell, Prenthis, Narkon, Quentor, Anshal, Rendoth and Jarl.
These eight were elite magicians who had been trained since they could stand to manipulate the many elements of the world.
~These magicians are Zeal's main offense and defense when it comes to attacks from creatures not of the enlightened ones or even below those wretched earth dwellers.
Now that I have this however…that will all change.~
"We are trying to research its energy source and where it came up with all this power…once we isolate its core energy source we should be able to tap into it and grant Zeal the greatest powers in the galaxy." One of her scientists said.
Zeal didn't care about her kingdom anymore…the darkness that was Lavos soon consumed her heart and soul…leaving nothing but a shell of a once warm, caring leader and leaving behind a heartless, cold blooded creature ready to slaughter and elminate all who would stand in her way…
Matzu headed back to his chambers and closed the door behind him with a wave of his hand…sitting down on his bed he went over all the possibilities and outcomes for the kingdom of Zeal.
~The queen is a great public figure, but she's of weak character…she's easily corrupted. Such power as Lavos will corrupt her entirely…nothing will be left of the old Zeal to hold on to…~ Matzu cursed himself as he stood suddenly.
"I have to stop her…" he told himself as he walked out the door slowly.
*
After witnessing the great power of Lavos the eight callers were walking down a hallway in the palace, discussing the evil they had witnessed. Each of them wore a brightly colored robe in association with their element…
Sherkal wore a long, light brown cloak. Wendell wore a long white robe. Prenthis wore a long dark blue robe and Narkon wore a long light blue robe. Quentor wore a red robe and Anshal wore a black one. Finally, Jarl wore a gray cloak that dragged behind him gently.
"Surely the queen isn't going to try and harness that!" Rendroth declared angrily.
"It seems that the queen wishes for unlimited power…" Jarl commented dryly.
Sherkal looked over her brethren and stopped for a moment.
"Now hold on a minute, we're talking about Queen Zeal here…the leader of this world…why would she want to endanger her people over this new creature?"
The others simply chuckled…she was after all, the only female of the eight, and they never seemed to take her seriously…how she resented that is beyond verbal description.
"If you were offered the greatest power in the galaxy dear Sherkal, I don't think even you would turn it down…" Prenthis said softly.
Sherkal huffed impatiently and caught up with them walking swiftly with a touch of impatience.
"No need for a temper Sherkal, it just makes sense is all, even the Gurus think so." Quentor said with a smug look on his face.
Lowering his voice into a whisper Anshal quietly said
"I heard Matzu isn't talking to the queen anymore because of what she did."
The other seven gasped quietly.
"Matzu?" Sherkal asked in awe, she had heard of this incredible Wiseman but she never had met with him face to face, it was rumored he had studied all the elements enough so that he proved to be a very powerful wizard and the queen's wisest, most respected confidant.
Just then a dark figure leaning against a pillar took up and ran back to the queen's room…his mission had been accomplished.
*
"Those dirty mongrels were lying to me! I knew it! Those fools will pay for their insolence!" Zeal screamed in rage.
"Bring them to me!" she shouted as she waved her hand in the direction of her guards.
They nodded quickly and retreated quickly.
*
Matzu paced quickly down the hall and noticed a wave of elite Zeal guards surrounding the Callers.
~What's going on?!~ he thought as he watched the elite guards use all their magic to restrain the callers and teleport out of the room.
~darn!~ Matzu thought as he ran towards the chamber where Lavos was being kept…he had a feeling that they were heading there.
The Eight had no idea what to do…before they could do anything they were before Zeal and her monstrous new pet Lavos.
"Hello my little traitors…"
"Traitors?!" Jarl growled.
"Yes…" she said with a scowl. "…traitors."
"I demand to know what's going on right now Zeal!" Wendell yelled, his body beginning to teem with electricity.
"I wouldn't recommend any rash actions…" said softly motioning towards her elite, their staffs held ready towards the callers.
"I'm afraid I can't have you traitors dirtying my perfect kingdom…" Zeal's smile became a menacing grimace that would've sent chills down the fiercest demons' spines.
She gave the orders and the portals opened, and the callers disappeared into nothingness.
Matzu ran into the room a little too late...the callers already were being sucked into the vortexes of time and being dragged into realms unknown.
"ZEAL!" He screamed as he ran in unsheathing his blade.
"You fool! How dare you enter my chambers without my permission!" she screamed in rage as she motioned to her elite to handle the problem.
Matzu held out his hand as one of the elite was frozen solid and he spun, slashing at it as it shattered into thousands of pieces. With a quick movement he threw a dagger at another's head as it dug in deep into the elite's skull and he fell to the floor, a pool of blood forming underneath him.
Matzu growled, all the suppressed anger and fury under Zeal coming loose, like a hellish power set free.
With a wave of his hand an incredible explosion incinerated the remaining elite as he walked towards Zeal and Lavos slowly.
"You....you filthy mongrel! You destroyed my elite corps!" Zeal cried in shock.
"That's right you darn B***h...and now it's your turn..." he said coldly as he pointed his sword at her.
Zeal began to laugh.
"Fool...you compare the skills of my elite corps to myself? The power you're facing is unlike any you can possibly fathom... and with lavos to help focus my energy...I can dispose of vermin like you in a blink!"
Lavos opened its mouth slowly as an energy began to form and Zeal began to mumble...a portal opening up above Matzu and Lavos loosing a beam of energy at the same time, the two energies creating a separate realm for Matzu...an infinite prison for him to dwell in through the flow of time.
Matzu let out a scream as he was pulled into the vortex...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And then he woke up...
"Dammit...I need to find that caller of Space...where the hell could he be?" Matzu cursed himself for not paying attention to every second of time as it passed beneath him.
Matzu took a deep breath.
"No need to stress out...I'll find him and then I'll make my way past the end of time, and gain the immortality I deserve!"
Matzu laughed long and hard as the shadows covered him and he dissappeared into his realm again
Crono turned to the rest of the warriors.
"Alright...we passed the first Callers test...now we need to go back to Gaspar's and find out the next Caller's location..."
Glenn, Ayla, Magus, Lucca, Marle and Robo all nodded, until Ayla brought something up.
"But what about Azala?" she cried desperately.
Crono slapped his forehead.
~I can't believe I forgot about that!~ he thought to himself.
Magus chuckled.
"I can't believe you forgot about that Crono..." he said with a sneer.
Crono gave him a look of disbelief...ready to comment, but didn't have the energy to start a fight with Magus.
"Right...we'll take care of Azala first...then we'll head back to Gaspar..."
Robo spoke up quickly.
"Crono, wouldn't it be wiser if you went on with a couple of us while the rest of us went on back to Gaspar's and continued with the mission?"
Crono smiled.
"That's a great idea robo! Very well...I'll take..."
"Crono no leave without Ayla!" Ayla cried as she ran up to him.
Crono chuckled.
"Very well...I'll take Ayla and.....Marle." Crono said with a smile.
"Figures..." Magus snarled.
Marle giggled and walked over to Crono turning to the four remaining warriors.
"You guys head back to the end of time and Gaspar and go on to the next caller...we'll follow after you when we're done here."
The four other heroes, Robo, Glenn, Lucca and Magus all nodded silently as Glenn walked up to Marle and took her hand gently.
"Be Careful m'lady..." he said...his eyes growing soft with worry.
Marle giggled.
"Don't worry Glenn...I'll be fine..." she said as she sent him off to follow the others, hearing magus call from ahead...
"I have the front seat!"
Marle turned to Crono.
"Are you guys ready?" he asked.
Ayla nodded excitedly.
"Ayla ready! We make Azala have big hurt! Right Crono?"
Crono chuckled.
"Yes Ayla...we'll make Azala have a big hurt..."
Marle's face became quite serious as she looked towards Azala's tower, which loomed over them like a bad dream she loaded her crossbow.
Crono got his Rainbow Sword ready as Ayla growled low in her throat.
"Let's go..." Crono said as they charged towards the tower.
*
Lucca piloted the Epoch as Magus sat next to her...Glenn sitting in robo's lap in the back seat.
"Hmmpf...next time have Magus sit in Robo's lap..." Glenn whined.
"Oh stop it you big baby...or else I'll cast a black hole on you both..." Magus scowled.
Glenn growled.
"Why you...!" as he struggled to attack Magus.
"WOULD BOTH OF YOU PLEASE STOP?!" Lucca yelled.
The cabin fell into an eery silence.
"Sorry Lucca..." Glenn muttered, ashamed.
Magus didn't say sorry, but he wasn't feeling like the best guy in the world either.
Finally they arrived at the end of time, leaping out of the epoch Lucca ran up to Gaspar.
"We got Sherkal's blessing Gaspar!" she said breathlessly.
The old man's eyes shone with a tinge of pride.
"That's great news young one..." Gaspar looked around at the Magus, Robo, Glenn and Lucca.
"Where are Crono and the others?"
Lucca sighed.
"They have some business to attend to back in Ayla's time...and we've been sent to continue onward...so do you have any more locations on the Callers?"
Gaspar smiled.
"Yes..I've located four more...Wendell, the master of lightning, is in the year 1995 AD. Prenthis, the master of Ice...is located in 5000 BC, Narkon, the master of water, is in
500 AD...and is in the underground city of Atlantica...but I think the epoch can handle that. Finally Quentor, the master of fire, is in 1980."
Lucca smiled.
"Thanks Gaspar! Now...to decide which one to go to..."
Lucca stood there for a moment, pondering which course they should take, when Glenn stepped up gently behind her.
"M'lady...I believe that if we went to Wendell that would be the best course of action..."
Lucca turned to Glenn.
"Why would you say that Glenn?" She asked with a tinge of interest.
"Well, seeing as how he is one who wields lightning, perhaps my water magic will be more effective against him..."
Suddenly Glenn heard Magus chuckle from behind him.
"Your puny bubbles wouldn't do much damage against any kind of enemy, only my shadow magicks are of real use in combat..."
Glenn turned and scowled at Magus.
"These spells of mine did enough to help take you down in combat...or would you rather I slay you with the Masamune?"
Magus growled back to him in return when suddenly Gaspar snorted and looked to the two arguing heroes.
"That's enough you two...get going to 1995 AD...that's just four years before Lavos is supposed to attack..."
Robo smiled, well as much as a robot could.
"Finally! I'll be able to see my masters again! What fun!" Robo ran towards the epoch.
"I call front seat!" He shouted.
Magus and Glenn looked to each other with dread.
~This is going to be a looooong flight...~ Glenn thought as he marched slowly towards the Epoch.
*
Ayla, Crono and Marle looked over Azala's rebuilt castle.
"It still looks as splendid as before..." Crono said quietly.
"Ayla no care! Ayla make Azala pay for shame he cause...!"
Marle giggled and gave an encouraging thumbs up.
"That's right, he won't know what hit him!"
Crono walked towards the door slowly, lifting his Rainbow sword over his head he leapt into the air, bringing the sword down hard, executing his "Spincut" technique, the door fell inward in two pieces...and reptites came out in the dozens.
Ayla screamed in rage and leapt forward, performing a triple kick she knocked a good six reptites out of the game as Crono leapt into the air.
"Marle! Now! Ice Sword 2!" he yelled.
Marle nodded as she closed her eyes...murmuring gently she sent a blue light to encompass Crono's blade as he struck true upon ihs enemy...a block of ice forming around the enemy as he began to run around it, slicing it up and down, side to side until the ice exploded with great force, sending sharp shards of it towards the enemies in all directions, getting rid of many more of them.
Ayla backflipped off of her last kick and landed on one knee, standing she turned and slammed a reptite in the face with her right fist.
Suddenly, she felt her powers growing inside of her. She closed her eyes...her world lost all light, now there was only sound, her body teemed with the newly given powers of earth as her world filled with action, and yet simplicity. She was filled with waves of sluggish energies that were not heard, but felt as she opened her eyes again, reborn with a new sense of determination and trust in her own powers.
"Ayla show you a new trick!" She yelled as she stared down the dozens of reptites. Surely they hadfeared this hairless ape before but this new look of hers took it to a level beyond their comprehension.
"TERRA SMASHER!!" She screamed as she launched herself into the air and came back down, fist first, into the ground sending a wave of razor sharp daggers of earth towards the remaining reptites.
Many of them tried to run, but it was no use, for the daggers of earth tore through their skin nonetheless.
Ayla stood, amazed at her new powers as Crono and Marle looked to each other.
Crono looked back to Ayla.
"Ayla...are you ok?" Crono asked quietly.
Ayla smiled and turned.
"Ayla more than ok...Ayla better than ever!" Ayla then turned and ran towards the stairs...where more dangers awaited them.
Suddenly she saw three staircases...one on the left, right and middle.
"Crono? Which should we take?
Crono looked back to Marle
"Which way should we go Marle?"
Marle stepped forward and looked to each stairway...first the right one, then the center one, and then finally the left one. She smiled lightly.
"Let's head left..."
Crono smiled and nodded and motioned for Ayla to lead the way.
Ayla ran up the stairs quickly and headed towards the door, coming to a screeching halt when she saw someone she thought she'd never see again.
*
Glenn sat uncomfortably in Magus' lap and shifted slightly.
Magus snarled and looked to him.
"Would you please sit still?" Magus asked with a growl.
Glenn turned back to him with a scowl and then leaned forward slightly to talk to Lucca.
"How much longer?" he asked desperately.
"About 20 more minutes...just relax back there ok?"
Magus straightened up slightly, causing Glenn to tip over and hit his head on the back of Lucca's seat. Glenn turned to punch Magus in the face but Magus caught his fist as they stared each other down.
"Filthy amphibian..." Magus snarled.
"THAT'S ENOUGH FROM THE BOTH OF YOU!" Lucca screamed as the two fell silent and looked away from each other like school children.
*
"NIZBEL?!" Ayla asked in amazement.
Nizbel stood before them, flexing his massive muscles the well-built reptite snarled at the three of them.
"Azala told me you would be coming, I was hoping that he was kidding around...but I guess he wasn't. Don't worry though, I'm not letting you get out of here alive...especially since I've learned some new tricks..."
Nizbel smiled and ran to Crono first, throwing out his massive fist he caught Crono on his left cheek and sent him flying into the wall next to him with a loud *thud*. Marle grimaced and fired a few arrows from her crossbow at Nizbel, one of them piercing his chest as he growled and reached for the Arrow, pulling it out quickly.
"You filthy ape..." he growled as he leapt into the air and came down hard, sending a wave of earth towards Marle, sending her off balance and causing her to fall back and hit her head on the wall.
Ayla looked to her friends and then back to Nizbel, her eyes filled with a fiery rage as she flexed her muscles and leapt towards Nizblel with lightining speed...pushing off of one leg she rocketed towards Nizbel and executed her triple kick technique...hitting him in the chest, the left cheek and finally pushing off the second kick into a backflip she kicked him as hard as she could on his right cheek, sending him spinning and falling to the ground...hard.
Backflipping off of her final kick she landed on one knee.
Standing slowly she looked to Nizbel, who was sprawled across the floor.
"That too easy..." Ayla smiled confidently.
Suddenly nizbel chuckled and got up slowly...tilting his neck left cracking a few bones, then right...smiling at Ayla.
"Round two..."
Nizbel ran towards her and threw a punch at her stomach, Ayla rolled out of the way and pivoted, pushing off her back foot to fuel the strong punch she sent straight for Nizbel's head.
Nizbel held out his hand and caught Ayla's hand, spinning her around rapidly he sent her flying towards the rugged rock wall in front of them.
Ayla saw the wall approaching fast and knew that if she didn't do something drastic the fight would be over before it even started...she closed her eyes and searched her mind for more of her recently unlocked power, and smiled as she found what she was looking for.
"Terra shield!" She yelled quickly before hitting the wall, and instead of splattering against it with a series of cracks and snaps as Nizbel expected she hit the wall and instantly backflipped off of it onto one knee and stood...facing Nizbel.
"Round Three..." Ayla said with a grin.
*
"We're here!" Lucca shouted as they all leapt out of the Epoch, gazing in wonder at this Brave New World.
A huge dome encompassed the large buildings and peoples of these cities and cars hovered over 12 inches off the ground.
"What magic is this? That they float over the ground with their strange vehicles..." Magus said with a snarl.
Lucca looked to Magus and smiled.
"What would you call the Epoch then?"
Magus scoffed and looked around.
Glenn turned to Lucca.
"Where are we to find this Wendell character?"
Lucca smiled.
"I did a little research on the trip over...he has to be in one of the following three places:
1) Miranda Computer Labs
2) Shintoki Forensic Labs
3) Nerthtok Weather Labs
Where should we head first guys?"
"Let's head over to Shintoki Forensic Labs guys...we should find somethiing interesting there at least..."
the others nodded silently as they followed Lucca down the street towards a huge building, it was like a huge black monolith in the middle of the beautiful city...the sun reflecting off of its tinted windows as the four headed towards the main entrance...not knowing what to expect...
*
Ayla leapt at Nizbel and saw that Crono had awoken, shaking his head slightly as she planted a hard kick to the side of Nizbel's head.
"Crono! Help Ayla with Nizbel!"
Crono nodded, he knew exactly what to do as he closed his eyes and murmured, a light aura surrounding him as he held out his hands.
"VOLT BITE!" (Crono/Ayla:Lightning/Single Target he screamed as a blast of lightning came from the sky and filled Ayla's body with electric energies as she leapt at Nizbel and ravaged him with fierce bites and attacks, leaving him weakened from the lightning, poised for a beautiful finish, and of course, Ayla would like nothing better.
She closed her eyes, searching for the perfect technique to do so...and was thrilled with the result she got as she smiled and opened her eyes.
"Crono...Ayla have new trick...you help me...yes?"
Crono smiled and nodded.
"What do you want me to do?"
Ayla smirked.
"Big lightning storm...make lightning everywhere...Ayla take it from there..."
Crono nodded, kind of interested in what she was about to do.
He murmured a few words and threw his hands up into the air, Auras surrounding himself and Ayla as the lightning came from above, striking all around, and on Nizbel as Ayla chuckled and leapt into the air.
"Chaotic Fist!" Ayla shouted as she drove her fist into the ground as she came down and underneath Nizbel appeared the form of Ayla's hand, only completely made of rock, the lightning went into the hand and completely surrounded Nizbel before the Rock-hand closed with a series of sickening cracks and snaps, the sound of Nizbel's bones breaking as a blood curdling scream echoed through the room and blood ran freely down the rocks and onto the floor in a large pool.
Crono ran over to Marle and gently lifted her off the ground.
"Marle? Marle are you ok?"
Crono began to shake her gently...blood ran from her mouth lightly...she had bitten her lip pretty badly, and had some pretty severe bruises.
"Marle? Marle!"
Suddenly Marle flinched...and looked to Crono.
"What do you want you big oaf? I'm in pain ya know..." She smiled weakly at Crono.
Crono smiled back, his eyes were beginning to tear up...
"Then heal yourself, your majesty..." he chuckled lightly.
Marle closed her eyes, a light aura surrounding her as her bruises healed over and her cut closing up...the blood still on her lip.
Marle got up slowly.
"Well...that was fun...I better be on my guard next time..."
Ayla snarled and turned towards the door that led to the final plateau of the castle.
"If we take Center stair first, we no need to fight Nizbel..."
Ayla looked to Marle for a moment, and for the first time, bore a look of dissappointment and dare she say...anger?
Ayla ran ahead towards where Azala was waiting no doubt, Marle and Crono following unsurely afterwards.
*
Slowly the four awkward heroes entered the building, instantly drawing all the attention in the room towards them.
"What are these fools staring at?" Magus muttered impatiently.
~How I would love to suck these pitiful fools into a black hole...~
Lucca maintained herself and walked up to the main desk.
"Excuse me...do you know if there is a Wendell here?"
The receptionist took a minute to get over the other odd looking fellows.
"Um..let me see..."
The receptionist looked through the computer.
"Ah...here it is...I can't believe I forgot...He's the vice president of this company..."
Lucca frowned slightly.
"Could you arrange for him to meet with us?"
The receptionist gave Lucca an odd look.
"You must be new...it takes anywhere from 3 to 4 weeks to actually get on Wendell's schedule...the actual meeting won't take place for a couple months..."
Magus snarled and walked up to the desk and slammed his gloved hands onto the desk.
"Listen you pathetic worm...we will see this wendell character...whether you like it or not...so either you show us the way, or we fight our way up...understand?"
The receptionist shuddered, the figure's deep gazing eyes paralyzing her with fear, she was finally able to nod slightly.
"Good...now show us where he is..."
The receptionist stuttered
"T..t...th...th...the 56th...f..f..f..floor..."
Lucca looked around.
"And how exactly do we get to the 56th f..f..f...floor?" Magus asked with a sneer.
"The elevator..." the Receptionist said slowly...pointing behind her.
The four looked to this strange contraption and headed towards it...the receptionist getting on the phone.
"Tell Mr. Wendell there are some crazy freaks on their way up! Tell him now!